Hello, my name is Antoine Boucher. I am a frontline soldier in the French 5th Army. My journey started one day when I was told that Germany declared war on Russia and that France had to help them out in the war. When it was said we needed soldiers, I did not hesitate in signing up to serve my country in this "Great War." They threw me out there on the frontline in France's 5th Army. My unit consists of about 330 to 350 men, if I'm counting correctly (no one ever really told us how many men are in our unit). But overall there are too many soldiers in the 5th Army to even count. I was a bit hesitant about leaving all of my friends and family behind, not knowing if I would ever see them again. But I wanted to serve my country and now that I am, I have to be brave and courageous to fight, and willing to die, for my great country of France.
Here's a few pictures of my experience so far in the army and some things back home...
September 10, 1914- The Battle of the Marne I managed to survive my first major battle of the war. The battle was fairly exciting. It was our army and the French 6th Army and the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) against those darned Germans. They were trying to invade Paris and we had been retreating for quite a while towards the Marne River as the darned Germans conquered Belgium. It seemed immenent that they would take it over. But as they neared Paris they decided to encircle our army, leaving their right flank exposed. When Gen. Joffre learned of this he decided we should halt our retreat and attack the Germans. Our 6th army attacked on the morning of the 6th of September. Germany's first and second armies were seperated by about a 50 km wide gap. Our 5th army advanced into the gap. We dug trenches to hold our positions. On the 8th of September we launched a sneak attack against the 2nd army. They never saw it coming! I managed to get about 10 hits, though I'm not sure how many of them died. It was a terrifying battle. With troops dying all around and shells flying everywhere. I was prepared to be hit at anytime. There were houses around us burning and much of the land was destroyed. Just as it seemed as Paris was about to be captured we started to push them back so they retreated like the cowards they are to the Aisne River. Our 6th army took a bit of beating though at the beginning of the battle and would have lost had it not been for reinforcements arriving in over 600 taxis! I am sad to say had around 250,000 casualties in this miracle battle. And unfortunately we lost my best friend in this battle. I tried to save him, but Gen. Franchet d'Esperey told me to leave him behind. I will miss him dearly, but I have to move on and continue fighting for France! We are now beginning to build trenches near the Aisne River, where we plan to live for quite a long while. The general now needs my help. I will write back when I can.
Here's a video about the Miracle at the Marne...
Here's a map of the Battle of the Marne... December 25th, 1914- Christmas Day Today is our first Christmas spent out here on the battlefield and I am very sure this will not be our last. I am sorry I have not been able to write in a while. We have been involved in heavy trench warfare and several battles and time has not allowed me to write. But today our 5th army took place in the Christmas Truce in which we agreed to fire no shots today. There has actually been some gift exchanges between some soldiers from enemy countries in no-mans land!! I can here soldiers all around singing Silent Night right now. They've been singing Christmas carols for hours. The general said he does not want us even talking to the Germans and if we did, we would be severely punished. He does not want us being at all friendly to the Germans, and I agree with him, I don't want to be friendly with those fools. So here I sit, knee-deep in water in this trench on this dreaded Western Front. Its freezing cold and I can't feel my feet and can barely feel my fingers to type this. I apologize if I make any spelling errors. I am glad we are not fighting today on Christmas but the weather and living conditions are horrible. I wish at least some action would take place so I could at least stay warmer. The overall morale of the unit is fairly high, though we have been through some bad times. We are confident that a new year will bring victory to the Allies. But then again who knows? There has been almost no progress made by either side in this war so maybe the stalemate will just continue. No, I need to be confident in my fellow Allies. I think we will make great progress in this new year. So you may be wondering what I've been doing since I last wrote. Well I've seen a lot of action in battles. Just after the last time I wrote, we finally caught up to the Germans and attacked on the River Aisne. We should have attacked them in their retreat from the Marne but our bloody men moved to slow. So on the 13th of September we launched an attack on them at the river. The Germans had an excellent position in the river and they were well blocked from the line of fire. We managed to establish great position north of the river, but the German counterattacks pushed us back, using heavy machine gun and artillery fire. A few bullets actually hit my helmet! Luckily I had one on, or I would not be sitting here telling you this story. The stalemate continued on until the 28th, when we finally realized no one was making or going to make any progress and that if the fighting continued we would just have many casualties. We have tried several times at achieving some kind of breakthrough in this war, but the stalemate continues on as we continue to keep digging in deeper. I have heard that the trenches now stretch into Belgium! The weather has been miserable and has slowed the fighting down quite a bit. It seems as if it is always raining and these trenches are flooded. I wish it would at least snow or something. It could not possibly be as miserable as this, just sitting here getting little food and freezing our butts off. But I'm going to keep my chin up as we head into this new year and prepare to win this Great War!
March 26, 1916 Today is the first day I have been able to write in well over a year. There has been too much fighting to allow me to write. I am currently stationed in Verdun, but the battle is over for the most part. We had so many casualties. Obviously, the new year of 1915, did not bring victory to the Allies. Or really come even close... We are going to need to make some extreme progress for this war to end any time soon. This war is ridiculous and pointless. Nothing is being solved by this war, and its just a bunch of men dying everywhere. The trenches are miserable living conditions as well. This war just needs to be ended... July 10th, 1916 I'm tired of this war. We are still not accomplishing anything and so many good men have died and I am surprised I have not been one of them. But I have come so close. There are several dents from bullets in my helmet. Good thing I was wearing it! I also miss my family so much. I pray that somehow this war will end soon. Well I have to go, looks like we're marching out. Sorry I could not write much today....I will write back when I can, that is, if I manage to survive.
November 11th, 1918 Thank god the war has ended! An armistice has been signed, ending the war! I'm lucky to have even survived it. Sorry I have not written in well over two years. I actually forgot about this thing! I am happy to be going home now. Articles This is a French propaganda poster. The text translated into English means, "Hello! Nice people pour your gold we pour our blood well." This is trying to get people to finance the war effort in France. We have men fighting and dying for our country daily and I think the least our people can do is support us and give money to the troops and to the war effort. This poster uses patriotic appeals because it has a French soldier with a rifle and he is calling to the people of France to help finance the war.
Antoine Boucher-French Frontline Soldier
Hello, my name is Antoine Boucher. I am a frontline soldier in the French 5th Army. My journey started one day when I was told that Germany declared war on Russia and that France had to help them out in the war. When it was said we needed soldiers, I did not hesitate in signing up to serve my country in this "Great War." They threw me out there on the frontline in France's 5th Army. My unit consists of about 330 to 350 men, if I'm counting correctly (no one ever really told us how many men are in our unit). But overall there are too many soldiers in the 5th Army to even count. I was a bit hesitant about leaving all of my friends and family behind, not knowing if I would ever see them again. But I wanted to serve my country and now that I am, I have to be brave and courageous to fight, and willing to die, for my great country of France.
Here's a few pictures of my experience so far in the army and some things back home...
My new friend and me throwing grenades
Tricked-out ride Its a 1910 Peugeot
My crib I wish I could go back to it.
My bull dog His name is Sébastien.
Some of my buddies from my unit
Ready for the attack
Frontline at Marne Blew this Germans head off!!!
September 10, 1914- The Battle of the Marne
I managed to survive my first major battle of the war. The battle was fairly exciting. It was our army and the French 6th Army and the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) against those darned Germans. They were trying to invade Paris and we had been retreating for quite a while towards the Marne River as the darned Germans conquered Belgium. It seemed immenent that they would take it over. But as they neared Paris they decided to encircle our army, leaving their right flank exposed. When Gen. Joffre learned of this he decided we should halt our retreat and attack the Germans. Our 6th army attacked on the morning of the 6th of September. Germany's first and second armies were seperated by about a 50 km wide gap. Our 5th army advanced into the gap. We dug trenches to hold our positions. On the 8th of September we launched a sneak attack against the 2nd army. They never saw it coming! I managed to get about 10 hits, though I'm not sure how many of them died. It was a terrifying battle. With troops dying all around and shells flying everywhere. I was prepared to be hit at anytime. There were houses around us burning and much of the land was destroyed. Just as it seemed as Paris was about to be captured we started to push them back so they retreated like the cowards they are to the Aisne River. Our 6th army took a bit of beating though at the beginning of the battle and would have lost had it not been for reinforcements arriving in over 600 taxis! I am sad to say had around 250,000 casualties in this miracle battle. And unfortunately we lost my best friend in this battle. I tried to save him, but Gen. Franchet d'Esperey told me to leave him behind. I will miss him dearly, but I have to move on and continue fighting for France! We are now beginning to build trenches near the Aisne River, where we plan to live for quite a long while. The general now needs my help. I will write back when I can.
Here's a video about the Miracle at the Marne...
Here's a map of the Battle of the Marne...
December 25th, 1914- Christmas Day
Today is our first Christmas spent out here on the battlefield and I am very sure this will not be our last. I am sorry I have not been able to write in a while. We have been involved in heavy trench warfare and several battles and time has not allowed me to write. But today our 5th army took place in the Christmas Truce in which we agreed to fire no shots today. There has actually been some gift exchanges between some soldiers from enemy countries in no-mans land!! I can here soldiers all around singing Silent Night right now. They've been singing Christmas carols for hours. The general said he does not want us even talking to the Germans and if we did, we would be severely punished. He does not want us being at all friendly to the Germans, and I agree with him, I don't want to be friendly with those fools. So here I sit, knee-deep in water in this trench on this dreaded Western Front. Its freezing cold and I can't feel my feet and can barely feel my fingers to type this. I apologize if I make any spelling errors. I am glad we are not fighting today on Christmas but the weather and living conditions are horrible. I wish at least some action would take place so I could at least stay warmer. The overall morale of the unit is fairly high, though we have been through some bad times. We are confident that a new year will bring victory to the Allies. But then again who knows? There has been almost no progress made by either side in this war so maybe the stalemate will just continue. No, I need to be confident in my fellow Allies. I think we will make great progress in this new year. So you may be wondering what I've been doing since I last wrote. Well I've seen a lot of action in battles. Just after the last time I wrote, we finally caught up to the Germans and attacked on the River Aisne. We should have attacked them in their retreat from the Marne but our bloody men moved to slow. So on the 13th of September we launched an attack on them at the river. The Germans had an excellent position in the river and they were well blocked from the line of fire. We managed to establish great position north of the river, but the German counterattacks pushed us back, using heavy machine gun and artillery fire. A few bullets actually hit my helmet! Luckily I had one on, or I would not be sitting here telling you this story. The stalemate continued on until the 28th, when we finally realized no one was making or going to make any progress and that if the fighting continued we would just have many casualties. We have tried several times at achieving some kind of breakthrough in this war, but the stalemate continues on as we continue to keep digging in deeper. I have heard that the trenches now stretch into Belgium! The weather has been miserable and has slowed the fighting down quite a bit. It seems as if it is always raining and these trenches are flooded. I wish it would at least snow or something. It could not possibly be as miserable as this, just sitting here getting little food and freezing our butts off. But I'm going to keep my chin up as we head into this new year and prepare to win this Great War!
March 26, 1916
Today is the first day I have been able to write in well over a year. There has been too much fighting to allow me to write. I am currently stationed in Verdun, but the battle is over for the most part. We had so many casualties. Obviously, the new year of 1915, did not bring victory to the Allies. Or really come even close... We are going to need to make some extreme progress for this war to end any time soon. This war is ridiculous and pointless. Nothing is being solved by this war, and its just a bunch of men dying everywhere. The trenches are miserable living conditions as well. This war just needs to be ended...
July 10th, 1916
I'm tired of this war. We are still not accomplishing anything and so many good men have died and I am surprised I have not been one of them. But I have come so close. There are several dents from bullets in my helmet. Good thing I was wearing it! I also miss my family so much. I pray that somehow this war will end soon. Well I have to go, looks like we're marching out. Sorry I could not write much today....I will write back when I can, that is, if I manage to survive.
November 11th, 1918
Thank god the war has ended! An armistice has been signed, ending the war! I'm lucky to have even survived it. Sorry I have not written in well over two years. I actually forgot about this thing! I am happy to be going home now.
Articles
This is a French propaganda poster. The text translated into English means, "Hello! Nice people pour your gold we pour our blood well." This is trying to get people to finance the war effort in France. We have men fighting and dying for our country daily and I think the least our people can do is support us and give money to the troops and to the war effort. This poster uses patriotic appeals because it has a French soldier with a rifle and he is calling to the people of France to help finance the war.